Saturday 1 November 2008

Having Fun With Grandma

We have been relishing the time with Grandma visiting. Whilst our lack of big car (how our 7-seater Peugeot is missed, sigh!) has meant that we have stayed more in our area, we have still been able to get out and about. In fact, I don't think that I have walked so much around our town since I came!

So our week has been like this...
Tuesday - we picked mum up
Wednesday - we went for a walk by the sea and along the pier, fortunately nobody fell in this time! We sat and swished our feet in the water but eventually had to get going as it is so wobbly we began to feel sea sick! Mum got to taste one of Mamie's typical meals of racines (banane, madere, fruit a pain, patate douce) and court bouillon (fish in a lovely sauce of tomatoes, spring onions and herbs).
Thursday - we visited my Texan friend for tea and quiche and cake and some enjoyable English conversation - although I hasten to add that Mum is doing marvellously in French, she seems to understand most things and can usually get a response back! She tolerated my tuna pasta for lunch but I could tell she would rather eat Mamie's food!
Friday - we intended to go to the local shopping centre and Carrefour, and happily got a lift down from my two SILs which spared us a long walk in the rain. There we played with some toys in the toy shop and did some shopping. My niece Stella came and was our guide for the shortest route back home. We had to wait for the rain to stop but happily it did and even more happily it didn't return, as we trudged home - LissaLou has not got any faster in walking so we went at a very very sloooow speed! We had a lovely roast chicken for lunch. Unfortunately the ants found the carcass whilst I siesta-ed - grr!
Today - we were meant to go out but Bertie took the morning to paint the grave so we just chilled at home. Not unwelcome after our late return last night! This evening we got out the paddling pool we bought and the girls were thrilled to be splashing and plunging in it on our balcony, even in the freezing water and the cool of the evening!

LissaLou is particularly enjoying her Grandma being here, and the two are often to be found snuggled up together reading or colouring or working on an activity book - ahh! CassCass is usually on my knee (and enjoying the lack of competition!) and Baby JoJo is in such demand that Mum is lucky to ever see him! He has started crawling this week, so cute! He wobbles on his legs just like Bambi before collapsing and deciding it is easier to slide on his tummy. He can cover a lot of ground if required and I am having to be very diligent in tidying up the floor and keeping all the dangerous things out of reach. Putting him on the bed is now a no-no, as he has dropped off a few times.

We do find Mum a bit strange though - she loves the heat and doesn't use a fan!!!! Nor does she get bitten by the mosquitoes, so her mosquito net is a formality more than anything else! She will be telling you soon she doesn't know what I am complaining about! She has enjoyed all the food she has been offered, including guava, passion fruit, pomme cythere, prune de pays, cerise de pays and today Bertie chopped open a coconut with his machete, then she bravely drank it straight out! Bertie's dad said she was a true Femme Antillaise!

2 comments:

evie winter said...

Glad to hear Mum is doing you proud!!! Has she been taking photos, are we going to see any up on here?? I have done a blog entry just for the girls, make sure they see it!!!

Hevs said...

Er...she didnt bring her wire, I cant find mine to try it out, and the memory card Jessops sold her doesnt work with her camera!..so we are going to see if we can download them onto disc at the shop!